About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 2021)
SPORTS DawsonNewscom Wednesday, November 17, 2021 facebook.com/dawsonnews twitter.com/dawsonnews BASKETBALL Season tips off with Lady Tigers win Jacob Smith Dawson County News Junior Kirklyn Porter drives to the basket in the 2021-2022 season opener against KIPP Atlanta. Jacob Smith jsmith@dawsonnews.com The Dawson County High School basketball program kicked off their 2021-2022 season on Saturday, Nov. 13 by hosting a tip-off classic tournament. After the other games had played, the Dawson County Lady Tigers hosted KIPP Atlanta, beating them 70-12 for their first win of the year. Three Lady Tigers scored in double digits; both junior Kirklyn Porter and sophomore Anna Ayers had game- highs with 13 points and sophomore Jaci Wilson scored 1 1 points. The game was all Lady Tigers from the tip off. At the end of the first quarter, Dawson Co. held a 29-2 lead. Though the team put up 70 points in the game, it was their defense that truly shined, stealing the ball 15 times and recording 41 rebounds. Wilson had a game-high 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. Senior Ella Siuta and sophomores Kindra Coker and Morgan Chester each recorded three steals. Porter and Siuta each had game-highs in assists, with four each. After starting the season 1-0, the Lady Tigers will jump back into the swing of things on Tuesday, Nov. 16 to see their next in-game action, when they travel to Johns’ Creek High School. That game starts at 6:00 p.m. Boys’ game After taking an early lead and leading by five points at halftime, the Tigers basketball team could not hold onto the victory, losing 54-46 to the Forsyth Central Bulldogs, a GHSA 7A program. The Tigers started the game shooting the ball well. Sophomore Trey Harvey, who led the team with 17 points scored in the game, sank two immediate three-pointers, dejecting the Bulldogs’ defense. However, once Dawson County failed to get open shots off later in the game, the Bulldogs took advan tage on offense, taking a one-point lead at the end of the third quarter and winning the game. Senior Lane Perry ended the game with 12 points and senior Luke Mulberry and Harvey each recorded a team- high four assists. Senior Tristan Talley led the team with six rebounds. The Tigers will look for their first win of the season against Johns’ Creek on Tuesday, Nov. 16, playing immediately after the girls’ game. Check those rankings! Braedon Hubbard celebrates his second touchdown Friday, Nov. 12. Photos by Jacob Smith Dawson County News of the first round victory against Sandy Creek on Tigers win first round of state playoffs against Sandy Creek Jacob Smith jsmith@dawsonnews.com Most rankings had Sandy Creek as a top-5 team in the state for 3A football, with some rank ing the Patriots as high as No. 3. Those publications did not have Dawson County ranked in the top 10. After tonight, the Tigers proved those rank ings wrong. On Friday, Nov. 12, the Dawson County Tigers beat the Sandy Creek Patriots 36-27 to advance to the Sweet 16 of the GHSA 3A football state tournament. This is the fifth year in a row the Tigers have advanced to the second round of the state tournament. “Nothing sweeter than this,” Tigers head coach Sid Maxwell said after the game. “These boys work hard and come to work. It doesn’t matter who they play, they just come out and do what we ask them to do and exe cute. Tonight, they came out on top.” It was the ground attack on offense for the Tigers that set the pace of the game. As a team, the team ran the ball 43 times, opposed to 18 pass attempts. Feading the way was senior Conley Dyer, who carried the ball 23 times for 117 rushing yards. Senior Jackson Grindle complemented Dyer with 17 carries for 42 rushing yards. Though the Tigers pre dominantly ran the ball in the winning effort, all the offensive scoring took place through the air. Senior Braedon Hubbard may have only had three catches, but two of them found their way into the endzone. “I’m ready to travel,” Hubbard said after the game. “That shows you right there, that’s one of the top football teams in the state of Georgia. If we step up and do what we do, we’re going to be completely fine.” Hubbard led all receiv ers with 49 yards, but senior Bailey Dameron recorded five catches for 41 yards and sophomore Dominic FeBlanc caught two passes for 48 yards. Holtzclaw’s third pass ing touchdown came on a three-yard find to junior Kade Moledor in the back of the endzone. Those three yards officially made Holtzclaw the all- time leading passing yards leader in Dawson County High School his tory. Holtzclaw said the acknowledgement meant nothing to him, just as long as he and “his bud dies” kept the season going tonight. “It was awesome,” Holtzclaw said. “You grow up playing football together and it’s just a bond that you can’t break. We’re never going to get these memories back.” The Tigers’ defense See Football 13B 4 new schools to potentially join Dawson County's athletic region Jacob Smith jsmith@dawsonnews.com After hearing 59 different appeals on Wednesday, Nov. 10, the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) has officially finalized which schools will be in which classification for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years. There are guaranteed changes to happen within Region 7-3A, that Dawson County is currently a part of. Cherokee Bluff and North Hall High School will both move up to 4A next season and after one season of existence, East Forsyth High School will also make the jump to 4A. West Hall High School was scheduled to make the jump up to 4A alongside the other two Hall county schools, but their appeal to remain in 3A was approved. This leaves Dawson County, West Hall, Gilmer, White County and Fumpkin County as five teams remaining from Region 7-3A. Now, the GHSA has announced the potential new region alignments for the next two school years and it is quite different. Though all five teams from the current Region 7-3A previously mentioned will stick together, the region will add four new teams: Pickens High School, Franklin County High School, Hart County High School and Stephens County High School. In this current season, Franklin and Stephens both compete out of Region 8-3A, which will also experience potential remodeling by losing those two schools and gaining schools from Augusta. Both Hart County and Pickens County will make the jump down from 4A to 3A. The drive from Dawson County to Hart County will now be the longest for Tiger student athletes, with 90 miles separating the two schools. Franklin County is 67 miles away, Stephens County is 66 miles away and Pickens is just 23 miles away, a shorter drive than every other school is the region other than Fumpkin County. Players Of The Week! Zach Holtzclaw Zach Holtzclaw recently became the Dawson County High School all-time passing yards leader. Sponsored by: Certified Collision Center 706-216-0992 We’ve Gone Green! ‘We will be here when you need us. ” Illl-Cfir DUNKIN DONUTS DAHLONEGA Industrial Park Rd. 130 Industrial Park Rd, Dawsonville M-F: 8:00 - 5:00 Senior Jackson Grindle runs between the tackles against Sandy Creek on Friday, Nov. 12. Dawsonville's Premier Collision Center
